Charles Judson "Eagle Eye" Hemphill (April 20, 1876 – June 22, 1953) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

with the St. Louis Cardinals,

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

, Boston Americans,

Cleveland Bronchos The Cleveland Guardians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since 1994, they have played in Progressive Field. The Cleveland team originated in 190 ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

and the New York Highlanders between 1899 and 1911. Hemphill was listed at , 160 lb., Hemphill batted and threw left-handed.

Biography

Hemphill was born in Greenville, Michigan. His younger brother,

Frank Hemphill Frank Vernon Hemphill (May 13, 1878 – November 16, 1950) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1906) and Washington Senators (1901–60), Washington Senators (1909). Listed at , 165 lb, Hemphill ...

, also was an outfielder. Basically a line-drive hitter, Hemphill entered the major leagues in 1899 with the

St. Louis Perfectos ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, appearing in 11 games before joining the

during mid-season. The St. Louis and Cleveland clubs, both owned by the Robinson Brothers, proceeded to transfer the Spider's top players to St. Louis, leaving Cleveland with a truly awful club – they finished the 1899 season with a record of 20–134 which is the worst mark in major league history. The Spiders folded at the end of the season and, Hemphill went to the Kansas City Blues of the newly created American League in 1900; the AL was still considered a minor league that year. In 1901, Hemphill became the first opening day

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

in the history of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. After that he played for the

and the New York Highlanders. His most productive season came in 1902, when he hit a combined .308 with Cleveland and St. Louis. He enjoyed another good season in 1908 with the Highlanders, hitting .298 with a career-high 42

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

. His final season in the majors came in 1911 with the Highlanders, where he was a teammate of

Chet Hoff Chester Cornelius "Red" Hoff (May 8, 1891 – September 17, 1998) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Biography Early life Chester ("Chet" or "Red") Hoff was born in Ossining, New York, the fifth child (and fourth s ...

, in what would be Hoff's only big-league campaign. Hoff wound up being the longest-lived player in major league baseball history, finally passing away at the age of 107 in 1998–nearly a century after his old teammate Hemphill first played in the majors. In an 11-season career, Hemphill was a .271 hitter (1230-for-4541) with 22

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 421 RBI in 1242 games, including 580 runs, 117 doubles,

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 207 stolen bases, and a .337

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. In 1175 outfield appearances, he played at

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

(607), right (525) and

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

(45). He also played three games at second base. Hemphill died in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, at age 77.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemphill, Charlie 1876 births 1953 deaths People from Greenville, Michigan Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Michigan St. Louis Perfectos players Cleveland Spiders players Boston Americans players Cleveland Bronchos players St. Louis Browns players New York Highlanders players Minor league baseball managers St. Paul Saints (AA) players Atlanta Crackers managers Atlanta Crackers players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Youngstown Steelmen players 19th-century baseball players

Biography

See also

External links